Unusual uses for sneakers

In New
York City jails, the Department
of Correction forbids prisoners to wear NikeAir or similar sneakers. Why? Enterprising prisoners have hollowed
out the sole and used the Air chamber for the storage of
contraband, including razor blades and significant
quantities of drugs. Incoming prisoners wearing
forbidden sneakers have their sneakers taken away during their incarceration. They get the
sneakers back after serving their time in the slammer. (During their time in jail, the
city issues them inexpensive slip-on canvas sneakers.) Ironically, prisoners can keep
wearing their old Converse "Weapon" sneakers as
they can't be used as a weapons cache. The Department of Correction includes, as part of
their prison history exhibit, a pair of altered sneakers.

"Sheep Keds (Melophagus Ovinus) are wingless
blood-sucking flies that spend their entire lives on sheep. Although Keds can survive for two to eight days off their host,
transmission from sheep to sheep normally occurs by direct contact among crowded animals.

Female Keds give birth to larvae which they glue to the
wool of sheep. The attached larva immediately forms a pupa, and continues its development
for another three to five weeks. When it emerges from the pupa it will be an adult.
Keds live in the wool for four to five months, and are most
numerous during the autumn and winter months.

Large numbers of feeding Keds irritate the sheep, and may
produce anemia in heavily infested animals. The irritation to the skin causes the sheep to
rub and scratch itself, which damages the wool. Lambs and poorly fed animals are most
liable to suffer from Keds."

Replacement for the "BOARD OF EDUCATION?"

This was recommended
by an user posting anonymously on a certain "alt" newsgroup: "Has anyone
ever tried using a Tevasandal as a
spanking paddle? I tried it last night. They are more stingy that ANY paddle I have EVER
tried, wood, leather or anything. You've got to get the really flexible ones. I couldn't
believe how effective they were...."

On further research, it turns out that this practice is a traditional British technique for dealing with naughty children,
frequently known as "slippering." It is
even mentioned in the classic "Moby Dick."

READERS PLEASE NOTE: Names of athletic shoe manufacturers, shoe styles, and
technologies may be trademarked by the manufacturers. Charlie's Sneaker Pages uses these names solely to describe the shoes with the same familiar
nomenclature used by the manufacturer and recognized by the reader.